Method of cleaning fibers



@@C l, M. M. BRYAN, JR

METHOD OF CLEANING FBERS Original Filed Jan. 24, 1967 U.S. Cl. 19-105 3Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A method for high-speed processing andcleaning fibers being transferred by a lickerin from a feed roll to acarding cylinder wherein the lickerin is rotated at high speed, in therange of about 900-1700 rpm., to centrifugally separate substantialamounts of impurities from the fibers while creating air currents whichare then controllably directed to further separate impurities from thefibers as they are transferred from the lickerin to the cardingcylinder.

RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of Ser. No.611,432, filed Jan. 24, 1967, now abandoned, which in turn is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 461,473 filed June 4, 1965, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND This invention relates to a method of high-speed processingand cleaning fibers. More particularly, the invention relates to ahigh-speed method of cleaning fibers as they are passed around alickerin and transferred to a carding cylinder.

According to conventional carding procedures, masses of fibers areprocessed at relatively slow speeds in order to obtain good cleaning ofthe fibers and therefore a good quality carded web. For example, massesof fibers are usually processed through a carding apparatus wherein thelickerin (usually nine inches in diameter) is rotating at speeds up toabout 300 r.p.m. and the carding cylinder (usually fifty inches indiameter) is rotating at speeds up to about 185 r.p.m. As a result ofthese slow speeds the production rate of such carded web is not whollysatisfactory.

nited States Patent O Certain previous attempts to increase theproduction operations. Such deterioration of the web quality apparentlyoccurs due to the re-entry of previously separated impurities into theweb as it is processed. Moreover, substantial amounts of fibers arethrown outward from the apparatus.

In another previous attempt to increase the production rate of goodquality carded web, as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,145,425, thespeeds of the carding cylinder and the doffer apparently have beensuccessfully increased to some degree. However, the increases in thespeeds of the carding cylinder and doffer have been achieved only withthe use of additional equipment which provides a suitable ironing anddrafting treatment to Control and clean the web as it is received fromthe dolfer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention there is provided a method of cleaning fibers wherein massesof fibers may be processed at high-speed through a carding apparatuswhile producing a good quality carded web. As a result, production ratesfor such carded web have been ice achieved which are substantiallygreater than heretofore obtained.

Briefly described, the method provides for the cleaning of fibers asthey are trarisferred by a lickerin from a feed roll to a cardingcylinder and includes the stepsof feeding the fibers to the lickerin,rotating the lickerin at speeds between about 900 and 1700 r.p.m. tocentrifugally separate substantial amounts of impurities from the fiberswhile creating a first air current passing downward between the feedroll and the lickerin and a second air current passing upward betweenthe lickerin and the carding cylinder, transferring the fibers from thelickerin to the carding cylinder while the second air current passestherethrough to further separate impurities from the fibers, directingthe second air current away from the carding cylinder after it haspassed through the fibers, and at least partially neutralizing the firstair current by creating a low pressure region above the area between thefeed roll and the lickerin so that the fibers being fed to the lickerinwill be securely engaged by the rotating surface of the lickerin andheld in place during the transfer.

As will be more apparent from the following detailed discussion, thismethod of cleaning bers at the lickerin substantially eliminates anyproblems with separated irnpurities re-entering the fibers adjacent thecarding cylinder or in other regions of the apparatus. Moreover, theentire carding apparatus may be operated at much higher speeds using themethod of this invention while still producing good quality web.

These and other features and advantages of the instant invention willbecome apparent upon the inspection of the following specification,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a schematic elevationalView of a typical type apparatus in which the method of this inventioncan be utilized.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic elevational view, partially in cross-section,showing a card cylinder, a lickerin, a feed roll and their associatedelements, and including an embodiment of one means which may be usedwith such apparatus in order to carry out the method of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now more particularly tothe drawings, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a carding system in which thepresent invention may be practiced including a feed roll 10, a lickerin11, a carding cylinder 12, liats 14, a doifer 15, a comb 16, anair-suction hood 17, a series of drafting rolls 18, a trumpet 19, a pairof calender rolls 20, and a can 21.

Generally, in this system, fibers from a bale are fed to the feed roll10 which immediately passes them on to the lickerin 11. The lickerin 11transfers the fibers to the carding cylinder 12 and cooperating flats14. After being carded the fibers are dotfed in the form of a web 25 bya dofer roll 15. The web of fibers is then passed through the comb 16for further parallelization followed by drafting through rolls 18 in theusual manner. The drafting rolls may be of the conventionalsmooth-surfaced type or of a fluted type as disclosed in copendingapplication Ser. No. 449,118, now U.S. Patent No. 3,307,227. Thereafter,the drafted web is condensed through trumpet 19, calendered throughrolls 20 and deposited into a can 21 for conveyance to a subsequentoperation.

A suction hood 17 connected to a blower 26 may be provided adjacent thedrafting rolls 18 to remove any of the lighter impurities and shortundesirable fibers which become loosened during the drafting operation.Any

heavy impurities, of course, may fall directly to the floor beneath thedrafting rolls.

A suction duct 35, also connected to blower 26, leading to the lickerinside of the carding cylinder, may be provided to create a low pressureregion above the lickerin for purposes which will be explained infurther detail with regard to FIGURE 2.

Now then, referring to FIGURE 2, it may be seen that the feed roll 10,lickerin 11 and carding cylinder 12 are rotated in the directionsindicated by the respective arrows. The mass of fibers 24 passes overthe feed plate 28 and is engaged by the rotating feed roll 10. As thefibers pass beneath the feed roll they are slightly compressed. Thiscompression enables the feed roll to continuously pull in and advancethe mass of fibers 24 to the lickerin 11. Moreover, since the lickerinis rotated faster than the feed roll, such compression retards the bersas they are fed to the lickerin whereby the fibers are slightlystretched and parallelized as the teeth (not shown) of the lickerinengage them and transfer them to the carding cylinder 12.

The lickerin 11, of conventional construction and size, is rotated athigh speed in the range of about 900-1700 rpm. Thus, as the fibers areengaged and held to the surface of the lickerin during such high speedrotation sufficient centrifugal forces are set up so that variousimpurities and short undesirable fibers become loosened from the mass.These impurities and short fibers then become separated from the mass byeither being centrifugally thrown outward away from the lickerin or bybeing dislodged as the mass passes over the mote knives 30 (only one ofwhich is shown). While these centrifugal forces are sufficient to loosenand separate impurities and short undesirable fibers they areinsufficient to cause separation of the majority of the longer fibers inthe mass from the lickerin teeth. The mote knives further tend toparallelize these fibers so that no fiber aggregates remain in the massas it is transferred to the carding cylinder.

From the high speed lickerin the fibers are transferred to the cardingcylinder 12 which is rotated in a direction opposite to the rotation ofthe lickerin and at such a speed that its trangential component ofvelocity is greater than the tangential component of Velocity of thelickerin. Preferably, the carding cylinder, being of conventionalconstruction and size, is rotated at a speed in the range of 335-500r.p.m. The differential in speeds tends to further thin and parallelizethe fibers as they are transferred thus loosening further remainingimpurities and short undesirable fibers in the mass of fibers. Themanner in which these loosened impurities are removed at this point inthe operation is explained later.

Desirably a protective screen 32 is provided which substantially coversthe lower juncture of the lickerin and the carding cylinder so thatforeign substances are nhibited from entering the mass of fibers as theyare transferred from the lickerin to the carding cylinder. The screenalso functions to catch any of the longer fibers that may becomeseparated from the mass. As these longer fibers build up on the screenthey are picked up by the lickerin or the carding cylinder and are againintegrated with the mass.

While it has been found that substantial cleaning of the fibers may beaccomplished by rotating the lickerin in the range of 900-1700 r.p.m. ithas also been found that relatively strong air currents are createdaround the lickerin.

Of particular concern is an air current created between the lickerin 11and the feed roll 10 which, if uncontrolled, would tend to blow the massof fibers downward at the juncture of the feed plate 28 and the lickerinthereby inhibiting the function of the lickerin teeth in engaging andholding the mass of fibers to the surface of the lickerin. Moreover,such an air current would also tend to cause loosening and separation ofthe mass of fibers which did become engaged by the lickerin teeth andheld to the surface of the lickerin.

Therefore, in order to overcome any possible detrimental etfects of suchan air current there is provided a region of low pressure above the areabetween the feed roll'and the lickerin to at least partially neutralizeany downwardly directed air current which may be created by thehigh-speed lickerin. It is pointed out that the degree of low pressurerequired is governed by the particular speed at which the lickerin isoperated and may be easily adjusted to fit the situation as will beunderstood by those skilled in the art. Neutralization, of course, isnecessary only to the extent that the above-mentioned possible adverseeffects are prevented. Complete neutralization of this air current isalso acceptable as is creation of an air current flowing upward betweenthe feed roll and the lickerin.

A suitable arrangement for providing a neutralizing low pressure regionabove the area between the feed roll and the lickerin is shown in FIGURE2. A curved cover segment 33 is mounted in slightly spacetd apartrelationship from the lickerin surface adjacent the area between thefeed roll and the lickerin. A vacuum is then created in the spacebetweetn the cover segment and the lickerin by a suction line 35communicating with the cover segment through an elongated slot 36. Thesuction line 35 may alsoy be connected to the blower 26. Thus, any aircurrent being swept into the space `between the cover segment 33 and thelickerin will be at least partially exhausted through the suction line35. Moreover, the lickerin is inhibited or prevented from creatinganyair current in a downward direction immediately adjacent the feed rolldue to the effects of the low pressure region.

Another air current of concern is created between the lickerin and thecarding cylinder and moves in an upward direction. Therefore, as themass of fibers are transferred from the lickerin to the carding cylinderand are thinned and parallelized, as previously discussed, the aircurrent passes through the fibers and carries with it the loosenedimpurities.

In order to prevent these impurities from re-entering the fiber mass itis essential to direct the air current away from the carding cylinder.This is accomplished by a cover segment 34 which conforms to thecurvature of the corresponding portions of the lickerin and the cardingcylinder and is mounted in spaced-apart relationship over the areabetween the lickerin and the carding cylinder. Preferably, the coversegment 34 is secured in a conventional manner to one end of the coversegment 33 to form a continuous passage over the upper surface of thelickerin. In addition, that portion of the conver segment 34 lyingadjacent the carding cylinder is positioned in such a manner that themass of fibers being transferred will substantially fill the areabetween the cover segment and the carding cylinder. As a result, the aircurrent passing through the mass of fibers and carrying the impuritieswill be directed through the continuous passage formed by the coversegment 34 over the lickerin and exhausted through the suction duct 35.

It will thus be understood that the method according to the inventionmakes it possible to not only provide the cleaning of a mass of fibersbeing processed through a carding apparatus but also provides greaterefficiencies in operation and increased production of carded web.Moreover, from the above description it will be obvious to those skilledin the art that certain variations may be undertaken without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a method of cleaning fibers; the steps of feeding fibers from afeed roll to the circumferential surface of a lickerin rotating at arotational speed which provides a velocity to said circumferentialsurface sufficient to cause a substantial amount of any impurities thatare intermingled with said fibers and that have a greater mass than saidfibers to be thrown from said circumferential surface by centrifugalforce because of said greater mass, said velocity being substantiallyequal to the velocity of the circumferential surface of a lickerinhaving a diameter of nine inches and a rotational speed within a rangebctween 900 and 1700 revolutions per minute; and subsequently feedingsaid fibers from said circumferential surface of said lickerin to thecylindrical surface of a carding cylinder rotating at a rotational speedwhich provides a velocity to said cylindrical surface which issubstantially equal to the velocity of the cylindrical surface of acarding cylinder having a diameter of fifty inches and a rotationalspeed within a range of 335 to 500 revolutions per minute; said methodbeing further characterized by the motion of said circumferentialsurface of said lickerin creating a substantial fiow of air towardfibers passing between said feed roll and said lickerin and bysubstantially neutralizing said flow of air before it reaches Saidfibers passing between said feed roll and said licketrin by drawing airfrom above said lickerin.

2. The method of claim 1 including the step of feeding said fibers fromsaid cylindrical surface of said carding cylinder through a series ofdrafting rolls and of drawing air and debris upwardly from said fibersas said fibers pass between said drafting rolls.

3. The method of claim 2 including the step of passing air upwardlythrough said fibers and away from said carding cylinder while feedingsaid fibers from the said circumferential surface of said lickerin tosaid cylindrical surface of said carding cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,077,283 4/1937 Taylor et al19-263 XR 2,403,384 7/1946 Locke 19-105 3,077,641 2/1963 Aoki 19-1053,115,683 12/1963 Reiterer 19-105 3,145,425 8/1964 Varga 19-98 3,195,1877/1965 Kalwaites 19-106 XR 2,369,893 2/ 1945 Gwaltney 19-95 XR 2,403,3847/1946 Locke 19-105 3,077,641 2/1963 Aoki 19-105 3,115,683 12/1963Reiterer 19-107 XR 3,145,425 8/1964 Varga 19-98 FOREIGN PATENTS 917,6152/ 1963 Great Britain. 568,029 10/1957 Italy.

240,769 6/ 1946 Switzerland.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 19-98, 107

